Question about possible military item -- trying to determine what it is!

.......o and after 12 cans of that orrible stuff ...............
............feel like i've been slept on by an actual elephant

imaginary beer............imaginary hangovers............so much better, and cheaper than the real thing

 

Yes, Delirium Tremens is Belgian. It is 8.5%, so the regular tripel beer strength. They have a Delirium Blond and Delirium Black, both 10%.

 

A bit off topic but its elephant beer and Akvavit shots that got me thru my wedding 43 years ago.
never again!!!!

 

I doubt it Carman, I think if they were going to do all this work shaping this as well as it has been, then they would probably have used the time to make it as a working weapon. In this case the hand would simply slip along the blade and the blade almost certainly wouldn't penetrate the thick uniforms of the day.
However, possibly it was something that the soldier brought back from WWI and later had it worked into a letter opener and decorated. When the famous Red Baron was shot down in April 1918, all sorts of items were made by Aussie and British soldiers as souvenirs from various pieces of wreckage from his famous red Fokker Triplane.

 

well if they couldn't use it as a weapon (as you mentioned) maybe thats the reason they did make it into a paper opener

your not gonna try and make a knife that doesn't and won't work as one

 

....wonder if the germans had letters to open (at the time) and not just MASSIVE fights

..... Dear Mr Germans.....can you please stop having such big fights......(Edna 83 Essex)

......we got another Vun...... BIN ICH !

 

The arms on the ancient symbol for peace go in the opposite direction from a swastika. It looks like Indian brass to me. Do a google search for Indian Brass page turner or letter opener. It's probably fairly old since the symbol is on it. I had a whole set of Rudyard Kipling novels bound in red leather with gilded titles and the spine had this symbol on them.

 

Swastika is the Sanskrit name, it is the ancient sun symbol that is prominent in Shamanism, Hinduism and Buddhism. It can turn either way, and there are even temples with left and right turning swastikas side by side.

The Nazi symbol is called Hakenkreuz. It is at an angle compared to the Asian swastika, the way it is on OP's letter opener, which means the letter opener is linked to Nazis.
This image shows the difference:

 

I have not been able to find anything like this blade.......